Gaining Competitive Advantage in the Gray Zone: Response Options for Coercive Aggression Below the Threshold of Major War

Abstract

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Military Organizations Can Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time

“…This is especially the case for influence operations and disruptive “gray zone” activities—activities that occur below the threshold of conflict. The gray zone refers, in part, to a contested information space where multiple entities, state and nonstate actors alike, compete to maintain control over ideas, messages, and information (Matisek, 2017; Morris et al, 2019; Pettyjohn & Wasser, 2019). With their emphasis on cultural reproduction and certainty generation, the rigid military structures favored by Hasselbladh and Ydén (2020) promote rigid thinking.…”

The Impact of the Russian Federation on the States of Central and Eastern Europe

“…Through alternative messages Russian Federation attacks or undermines the credibility of various individuals or institutions perceived as having a negative impact on Russian interests. This is particularly the case with the promotion of news articles that are clearly hostile to the European Union and NATO (Morris et al, 2019).…”

Pandemics, Grey Zone Warfare, and (Inter)National Security

“…These proposed mechanisms draw on lessons learned from the flawed response to the coronavirus and are based on policy prescriptions from the literature on GZW, specifically the need for a multilateral approach that does not affect a state's ability to act independently and does not require ceding aspects of sovereignty. 93 Since GZW targets the weak points of democratic countries, they must cooperate and coordinate their responses to such threats, especially pandemics, by utilizing the strengths inherent in their form of government. In order to protect against future pandemics, a new international system must be established based on the principles of transparency and preservation of national sovereignty.…”